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In this January 2010 issue:

1. INTRO: Excitement is in the Air
2. SPECIALS: Shared Jet Charters from New York to St. Maarten3. ARTICLE: Shared Private Jet Charters To St. Maarten + Update
4. SPONSOR MESSAGE: CheapoAir
5. NEWS ITEM: Trip Report from a St. Barths Lover
6. TRAVEL TIP: Know AirStMaarten's Terms of Service
7. AGENDA: St. Barths Bucket March 25-28 20108. ADVERTISEMENT: Villa Flamands Blue
9. CUSTOMER SERVICE: How To Book With AirStMaarten

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INTRO: Excitement is in the Air
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Dear friends and clients,

Excitement is in the air. The biggest news this month is the fact that we can now offer shared private jet charters from mainland USA and in particular from the New York area (Teterboro and White Plains). This is very exciting news.

Coupled with the fact that we will get a Cessna Citation Mustang stationed in St. Maarten in October 2010 in order for is to be able to do private jet charters throughout the Caribbean as a part of our AllCaribbeanCharters.com programme, I believe 2010 will be the year we solidiify our diversification into the executive charters market.

But the great advantage of this new shared jet charter service is the affordable rate of $4000 per seat per leg from New York to St. Maarten. Frequent flyers on executive jets will tell you that is a great deal. To keep costs as low as possible, we will schedule charters to depart New York on Saturdays and return on Sundays. We will let the aircraft overnight in St. Maarten, allowing us to provide on-demand charters or medivac flights if necessary.

Besides this exciting news, January 2010 has been very busy fill with lots of excitement for us. To prove this point I have a testimonial from a very satisfied client regaling the great service her clients received from AirStMaarten. Here is what Liz had to say:

"I really want to thank you for the very urgent and last minute private air charter arrangements you made for my clients arriving in St Maarten on the 6th. Everything went really well with the flight and VIP meeting arrangements and they arrived at the boat here in Antigua at around 5.30pm which was amazing considering they didn’t touch down in St Maarten until 3.20. And they commented that it was the best transfer they’d ever had!"- Liz Marlow, Antigua Yacht Charters, www.caribbeansail.com

I am also excited about this month's issue as I have a great trip report from St. Barts lover, Jeff McGrew, complete with some great shots taken at the St. Barths airport. You can read Jeff's trip report below in the News section.

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2. SPECIALS: Shared Jet Charters from New York to St. Maarten
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We can offer you a seat on one of our private jets from New York to St. Maarten and back:

Fares excluding airport departure taxes, excess bagage fees or in-flight incidentals such as catering. You will be flying either on one of our Citations, Hawkers, Learjets or any other suitable executive jet we have available.
Customers understand and agree that they will be sharing their flight with other customers. Email sales@airsxm.com for more information.

AirStMaarten now offering shared private jet charters from mainland USA to St. Maarten with seamless connections to St. Barths.

St. Maarten - Terrance Rey, founder of Caribbean’s first and only virtual airline called AirStMaarten, now offering shared private jet service from mainland USA to St. Maarten with connecting charters to St. Barths. AirStMaarten will organize shared jet charters in cooperation with private jet charter operators throughout the USA and the Caribbean.

“We will be utilizing private jet aircrafts such as, Westwind, Citations and Hawkers to cater to non-executive travelers who want to travel in style with private jet service at an affordable price.” explains Rey.

At present AirStMaarten offers shared private charters from St. Maarten, Anguilla, Antigua and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to St. Barths. “Many of our clients arrive on commercial airlines, but the connection times are not ideal.” says Rey. “So we are looking to provide seamless connections with our new inbound private jet service.”

“For rates starting at $1500, affluent St. Barths travellers will be able to fly to St. Maarten at a premium price compared to the average Economy Class ticket price of $500, yet still competitive in comparison to a First Class fare of about $1800 to $2500.” continues Rey.

Terrance Rey first started AirStMaarten in 2003 offering transatlantic flights from The Netherlands to St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba with the now defunct Air Holland. After the demise of this Dutch charter operator, AirStMaarten focused it’s attention on the Dutch Caribbean regional market by offering flights with commercial carriers such as Dutch Antilles Express (now known as DAE), Inselair, Tiara Air, Winair, Air Caraibes, St. Barth Commuter and TransAnguilla, before ultimately finding its niche market in ‘Shared Charters’ to St. Barths.

“The idea was simple.” explains Rey. “Book private charters from St. Maarten, Anguilla, Antigua and San Juan to St. Barths and sell the seats individually at a higher price than the commercial carriers, such as Winair, Air Caraibes, Tradewind Aviation, Carib Aviation and St. Barth Commuter, and include VIP Services with Meet & Greet, Immigration Clearance, Escort, Luggage Pick Up and Transfers.”

“The only requirement for us to be able to schedule and execute a shared charter is that we have to have a minimum of 4 passengers on a flight.” Rey continues.

“Our new shared private jet charter service from mainland USA will be following the same concept. We will charter the whole aircraft to operate on our behalf and AirStMaarten will sell the seats individually. In certain cases, we will not even require a minimum amount of passengers before scheduling and executing a charter.” Terrance Rey concludes. “A new era in Caribbean private jet charter service has been launched to provide seamless connections via San Juan, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Kitts to St. Barths between inbound jet flights with the shared private charters we provide between these islands.”

“Furthermore,” Rey continues. “for those passengers arriving in St. Maarten and staying on the island we will have a VIP Meet & Greet Desk at the Princess Juliana International Airport, also known as the PJIA or PJIAE airport, where passengers can receive a Welcome Package, receive gift certificates to use while on the island, arrange VIP Shuttle Transfers to the hotels, villa's and condominium resorts, arrange tours, book island activities or excursion flights to the surrounding islands on commercial airline, private charters or even take a helicopter tour of the island.”

“We will man the desk with agents who can assist passengers with checking in, Business Class reservations, airline First Class tickets, lost luggage, wheelchair service, luggage carts, valet parking and escorting unaccompanied minors.” tells Rey. “It will be a great relief to our clients to know that on the ground in St. Maarten we can also be of assistance. In St. Barths it is no different as we work with Premium IV to provide concierge services to our clients over there.”

Our friend and St. Barths lover, Jeff McGrew, who is also a villa owner in St. Barths, wrote a great trip report (complete with the photo's) featuring the latest aviation developments in St. Barths. Jeff can be seeing here below sitting with the President of St. Barths and owner of St. Barth Commuter, Mr. Bruno Magras.

Here is what Jeff had to report...

AIR CARAIBES
Air Caraibes no longer making the SXM-SBH route---maybe in the future.

WINAIR
FACT: my friend Rodrigue Aubin, Senior Winair Station Manager (his 20th year) is the MOST under-appreciated man on St. Barts. He informs me their fleet is up to full stength.

Additional DH Twin Otter (below) in the foreground is leased with crews from Canada.

ST. BARTH COMMUTER
Nice afternon chat with Collectivite' President/St.Barth Commuter founder Magras or just "Bruno" as he likes to be called. I'm on a seat from one of his BN Islanders removed for a medivac flight..both of us watching/talking airplanes. Invited up to his office he points out his son (a US/European lic pilot) now directs air operations and his daughter Stephanie, pictured here (recently earned a Master's Degree in Airline Mgt.) supervises scheduling and other internal operations for charters.

Bruno informed me: they are adding to/upgrading their fleet with another Cessna Caravan scheduled to come off the Wichita, KS assembly line in April. Note, when you write a check for 2M for these birds, they include one of those models painted in your colors..free. He said they will continue to keep a pair of the Islander aircraft for medical and night departure operations.
Biggest challenge? Navigating the quirky/changing rules at PJIA.

A note to you Tradewinds frequent flyers: SBC has formally made application and plans to start flying the SJU/SBH route mid 2010.

End of the day, my impression is that for Bruno it's more fun discussing airplanes with a fellow aviator (he maintains & pilots his own Piper Cherokee 6) than those often contentious political issues.

Virtual Airline. AirStMaarten does not own nor operate its own aircrafts. We charter aircrafts or we book seats on Commercial Airlines for our customers. We have access to seats on 300 airlines to 5000 destinations worldwide. We also have access to a worldwide network of Charter Operators.

Reservations. After you submit a Reservation Request we will search for the best option and send you a Reservation Offer with an itinerary and payment instructions. The rates or fares quoted are subject to aircraft or seats availability and are valid for a limit period, after which they are subject to change without notice. Any change in itinerary will invalidate our Reservation Offer.

Payment Terms. Reservation Offers are payable upon receipt. Customers authorize payment by credit card by signing a creditcard authorisation form and faxing this back to us. We accept all major creditcards (Visa/Mastercard, Discover and AMEX). Customers can choose to pay via banktransfer, international bankwire or remit money via a money remittance service. Once payment has been received and processed, we will send out a Reservation Confirmation.

Cancellation Policy. The Charter Operator's confirmation terms or the Airline's e-tickets will reflect the cancellation policy.

Final Confirmation. AirStMaarten will confirm the Airline or Charter Operator details within 24 hours of a flight at the latest with check-in instructions and meet & greet information. In the case of a "Shared Charter", customers understand and agree that they will be sharing their flight with other customers.

Looking forward to being of assistance to you in planning your next trip to St. Barths.

A wonderful villa in a great location available for rent by owner on the idyllic French Caribbean island of St.Barts. Spectacular views overlooking Flamands Beach to neighboring islands with restaurants, grocery stores and bakery nearby. Visit http://www.stbartsvilla.com for more information.

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9. CUSTOMER SERVICE: How To Book With AirStMaarten
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Booking Procedure & Reservation Information

Submit a reservation request online at www.airsxm.com. Once we receive your request, we will send you a Reservation Offer for your consideration. Once you accept our proposal, we will require payment. You can use our credit card form to send us your credit card information. We accept all major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. You can also pay by bank transfer, check, cash or Paypal. Once payment is received, we will book the commercial flight or private charter and send you a Reservation Confirmation.

If you have requested additional services such as VIP Transfer Services, we will send you a Final Confirmation containing all details of your travel itinerary and services booked. And that's how you book with AirStMaarten.